Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-11-17
HILDA'S LOVER.

6ickered over two figures-a mans and a
girls. a pretty enough picture they made.
She in her flmy laces in the wide arm chair,
and he in velvet jacket and knickerbockers,
stretched lazIy at her feet, while beyond lay
the broad horizontal bands of white sand,
purple ocean and turquoise sky.
The girl slowly closed the blue and gold
volume of TennySon from which she had been
reading, and dreamily repeated, half aloud:
Ask me more; the moon may draw the sea,
The clouds may stoop from heaven and take
the shape
With fold TO fold of mountain or of cane
But 0 too fond! when have answered thee,
Ask me no more.
''Do you think he ought to have asked her
again after thatFn she continued.
The young man tossed a pebble out over
the water and waited to see the last ripple
vanish before he replied. II have no doubt
that be did ask her again, and have no
doubt that she would have been awfulIy dis
appointed if he hadn't"
Eiilda Grey looked down at the speaker
with smile, half vexed, half amused She
was Boston girl, and Eustace Payne was
New York man, and, therefore, as she told
herself, it was a case of imperfect sympathies.
fhe old battle Of realism versus ideaIism was
perpetually waging between them. Pavne
r1d1culed the Concord philosophers and bur-
iesqued their philosophy. He boldly declared,
not that he could not understand Harris,
which would have been received as a tribute
but that Harris did not know what he meant
himself; Emerson, he said, was saved by a
sense OF hunor which made him half New
YORKER. The mind cure he called Boston
wltcAcraft, and prOfesSed to think it as dam
gerous as the Salem delusion Of old
Their dlscords often came when, as now.
She was led on to speak out her psychological
questlonlngs. IN Eustace Payne's mind, to
produce ones serious thoughts and deep con-
victonS ia ordinary conversation was like a
womans wearing diamond earrings to mar
ket justltylnS suspicion that they were paste,
ana branding the owner TO the world of
culture. To HlIda Grey, on the other hand.
II seemed that all talk, to be good for any
thing, must dig down into the verities, and
1t was with a shade OF Impotence in her tone
that she took up the thread of conversation
Il am not discussing the herone's feelings.
The question is, should you think a man
would care to marry a woman who wanted
not TO love hi1!n
Certainly not, unless her unwillingness
could be overcome
"A lawyers bubble. Let me, if possible
make my idea clear enough for your cornpre,
hepsion. | mean would a woman's determi-
nation not to care Cor you be an incentive to
you to strive to win her loves ] say you,
meaning the average man"
Payne slowly drew himself up to his six
feet of height, and with his cap waved mock
salute as no answered:
IT'S old maxim of the schools
That flattery's the food of fools
"But if you really think me competent to
speak for the average man, should saw.
Nes, in certain way l do not care for
pigeon shooting; prefer shyer game; and
can understand that pique, that last mfr
nifty of noble minds, might lend an added
Zest to courtship; but after all, the motive Of
her aversion in marrying me would make all
the difference in the world. If, for instance,
it were disparity of rank and fortune con-
fess have no fancy for playing Bertram to
any Lady Geraldine"
Excellent Here we have the gauge of
the average man, and, behold, it is vanity.
Affection may 80 TO the wall. but his precious
self esteem must not be wounded So long
as your pride would be gratified by conquer
ing her indifference you would strive for her
regard like politician for office, but if win
ming ker acceptance of her fortune, you pre-
fer TO button up your coat over your bursting
heart, and, as you would magnificently call
it, conquer your passion as | should say,
sacrifice yourself and her on the altar of
vanity"
Payne unclasped the knee which he had
been holding as he leaned back against the
pillar. and he stretched himself out as if Ia
make his position as comfortable as possible
for a long argument. His face called TO his
found specially agsravating, as he made the
somewhat irrelevant reply:
woman is generally brilliant, sometimes
inspired, seldom consecutive, and never log
icsL"
''SententiouS ageH
'She blazes up and goes out like the cleo.
trio lights on Fifth avenue, the flashes of her
illustrations only Illuminating the darkness
OF her reasoning. Now that you have fin
ished your summary, the average man, let
me show YOU the flaws in your argument,
though il is like pointing out the holes in a
mosquito netting. Let uS go to the situation
of the poem, iuia ginning me the hero and YOU
as the ideal woman mark my superior civil
ityl. tho heroine.
In the first place, then, wanting not to
love Inc is not indifference. The very resist
nnce implies that have reached the strong
hold OF your heart, and your only hope at
best is to hold the citadaL 1t is question of
driving me out, not OF preventing my en-
trance.
'Now this indicates one Of two states of
mind You think either that YOU are not
worthy of me- or that l am not worthy of
you. II If be the former, VIII defend the
case to the hast appeal. with Cupid as referee
and Hyrnen rs witness. If il be the latter,
would ask, why do you doubt NEE If my
fortune is too small, FAREWELL Ny pride
says it, and pride is the mortal foe of vanity,
though you seem to confuse them. II you
doubt my consistency, | claim the right to
prove il. If you scorn my intellect, / have
at least enough TO appreciate YOUR merits
Yes, and your faults, too, by Jover"
''SSir, YOU forget you are speaking OF the
ideal woman, who, presumably, he'd 10
very glaring faults, even in the ewes Of so in,
te!lectual a lover Is a New York lawyer"
There comes in your provincial acerbity,
rs usual: but Won shall not draw me or from
the main line of battle 10 any intercivilic
skirmishes. Suppose we take . fresh stsrt,
and let me turn inquisitor. l should like TO
have YOU interpret for me the herones state
OF mind I confess l have always thought
her an arrant ccquatte, who withdrew only
IL make her pursuit more eager"
The Young man locked up with triumph
of delight in his brown eyes as he saw the
last shot had told, and by the interlaced
fingers ard rising 70 the discussion in dead
earnest he often wondered at his own per-
petual disposition to quarrel with Miss Grey,
Vet be told himself snat she was never so
saarrlinS as when she was downright angry,
AID descended from her transcendental hobby
"a Geht on foot. Slowly snd somewhat dis